After months of creativity in Accor kitchens around the world, we’re delighted to announce the winner and the Top 5 dishes of the Accor Green Plate Challenge. From breakfast leftovers to prep trimmings, chefs across Accor globally have taken ingredients often overlooked and turned them into dishes full of flavour, texture and story.
What is the Accor Green Plate Challenge?
The Green Plate Challenge is an Accor-wide competition that invited every Accor chef using Winnow to design a dish with ingredients we would normally throw away. Unlike a traditional competition with a single judging panel, the winner of the Challenge was decided by you. Chefs and F&B colleagues from across Accor were invited to vote for their favourite dishes. Dishes were evaluated on four key criteria: innovation, creativity, smart use of waste and standout presentation. We received over 40 delicious entries and more than 200 peer votes cast across Accor to decide the winners.
Reflecting on the impact of the competition, Coline Pont, Accor's Chief Sustainability Officer, said:
“Across our network of 200+ Accor hotels working with Winnow, this initiative delivered very concrete and inspiring results. I want to congratulate every F&B Heartist who took part, for their commitment and craft: using the full potential of every ingredient, reducing waste at source, and turning this into creative, well-executed dishes!
This way of working makes our kitchens more efficient and accountable. It shapes guest experience: guests expect their values to be reflected in their plate. This is what responsible hospitality looks like in practice.”
And now, the winning dish is…
Red bean pancakes, crispy hummus, seared carpaccio and fried plantain (aloco)
By Chef Djibril Sall, Mövenpick Resort Lamantin Saly
This zero-waste recipe transforms often forgotten or discarded ingredients such as breakfast beans, stale bread and ripe plantains into a structured and balanced dish. Built around red bean pancakes, crispy breaded hummus, seared carpaccio and aloco (fried plantain), the dish brings together a range of surplus ingredients into one plate. It draws on West African flavours while demonstrating how everyday kitchen leftovers can be transformed into something structured, balanced and flavourful.
Zero-waste elements
- Cooked red beans repurposed into pancakes
- Leftover bread and pastries transformed into breadcrumbs
- Surplus hummus shaped, breaded and fried in breadcrumbs
The shortlist
Four other chefs joined Chef Djibril in the Top 5.
2nd · Oatmeal pancakes
By Chef Dammika Herath, Pullman Dubai Creek City Centre
Oatmeal is one of the most wasted ingredients on hotel breakfast buffets. Cooked in large batches and difficult to reuse, it is often discarded after service. This dish shows how easily that waste can be turned into value. Made from leftover cooked oats and combined with simple ingredients like egg, flour and milk, it gives breakfast leftovers a second life on the menu.
3rd · Crispy potato peel spice bag
By Chef Aheesh Koyappathodi, Novotel Suites Mall Avenue
This is a bold example of how trimming waste can be turned into a standout dish. Built around potato peels, one of the most common prep waste items, they are blanched, dried and fried to create a crispy base. Tossed with spices, vegetables and served with a rich curry-style sauce, the result is a dish that is both flavourful and intentional.
4th · Watermelon peel jam
By Chef Baris Kahraman, Rixos Al Mairid, Ras Al Khaimah
Watermelon rind is one of the most wasted trimmings in hotel kitchens. Once the fruit is prepared, the peel is almost always discarded. This dish turns that overlooked ingredient into a breakfast staple. Made from the white part of the watermelon peel, with the outer skin removed, it is soaked and then cooked with sugar and water to a jam-like consistency, finished with lemon juice and served as part of the breakfast offering.
5th · Watermelon rind chutney
By Chef Thorsten Sbrzesny, Mövenpick Resort El Quseir
A second take on the same overlooked ingredient shows its versatility across the menu. Watermelon rind is cut into cubes and slow-cooked with vinegar, sugar, ginger, chilli and spices until tender and syrupy, creating a chutney that can be used as a versatile condiment across multiple dishes.
Why this matters?
Food waste is one of the largest single levers our industry has to reduce its environmental impact. These dishes in the Top 5 show how that works in practice. Across all entries, this challenge showcased the breadth of culinary creativity across Accor.
Congratulations again to Chef Djibril and all chefs who took part in the Accor Green Plate Challenge. We look forward to seeing these ideas continue to inspire kitchens across Accor.
Want to see all five recipes in full?
The Winnow digital cookbook - featuring all of these recipes from Accor plus over 100 other zero-waste recipes from chefs across our global community - is coming soon. Watch this space.
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